Tigers demolish Gamecocks, will face Oregon for BCS title

The second-ranked Tigers firmly stamped their ticket to their first Bowl Championship Series title game by beating South Carolina 56-17 for the Southeastern Conference championship in the Georgia Dome - the most points scored by a single team and the biggest margin of victory in the game's history.

The Tigers have won seven SEC titles.

They also made sure that their much-maligned quarterback Cam Newton stayed at the top of most Heisman lists despite lingering accusations after the senior had a hand in six of the team's seven touchdowns against the Gamecocks.

And unlike their previous two games, the Tigers (13-0) never trailed and needed no comeback to win their 13th straight game.

"I told them before the game, I felt like this was going to be our finest hour," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "I felt like we were going to play great. They were prepared. They were focused. They were locked in. I think they played like it."

South Carolina, in the SEC championship game for the first time, appears headed for a New Year's Eve bowl game, possibly the Outback Bowl.

"It didn't happen for us," South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. "We needed to play a really, really good game and we weren't very close to that. ... We had a good year. It wasn't a super year that we had all hoped for as Gamecocks, but it's a very good year."

Auburn hadn't won an SEC title since 2004, which is also the last time it went undefeated. But the Tigers did not play for a national title that season.

The final BCS standings will be announced tonight and Auburn and Oregon, who beat rival Oregon State on Saturday, will likely be the last two team standings, leaving fellow undefeated TCU on the outside looking in.

"We just feel so blessed," Chizik said. "We are excited about it. ... I know that is where we are going. I'm very proud, because there are a lot of people responsible for getting us there. I'm sure it will probably sink in a little bit more."

Auburn narrowly escaped its first game against South Carolina this season, needing a second-half comeback to beat the Gamecocks 35-27 at home.

On Saturday, however, the Tigers used a last-second Hail Mary from Newton to Darvin Adams for a 51-yard touchdown to end the first half with a two-score lead. The pass tipped off the hands of South Carolina's DeVonte Holloman and Adams caught the ball over the head of defensive back Stephon Gilmore for the score.

"When the time came for us to make a play, Darvin did an excellent job of catching the ball in the air," Newton said. "The offensive line did an excellent job of protecting so it would give me time to throw the football."

Chizik said that play before the end of the half changed the feel of the game as both teams headed into the lockerroom.

"I think that was a huge turning point in the game," Chizik said. "He's done that in practice, so we said let's throw one up and see if we can't get a big play. I think it was a huge momentum swing."

The Tigers did not need any last-second dramatics in the second half to separate themselves from their SEC East counterpart.

They scored three touchdowns in the second half while holding South Carolina to just a field goal to pull away and inch closer to Glendale, Ariz., where the national championship game will be played on Jan. 10.

"The first half, I don't know what it is about our defense. We bend, but we don't break," Auburn defensive lineman Nick Fairley said. "In the second half, we don't even bend. We came out and executed our defense and held them down."

The score that put the game out of reach and had Gamecocks fans heading for the parking lot came on defense - an interception return for a touchdown by T'Sharvan Bell - to make the score 42-14.

Auburn finished the game with 589 yards of offense, a SEC championship game record. The Tigers' average of 8.29 yards per play is also an SEC title game record.

Newton completed 17 of 28 attempts for 335 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing with 14 attempts for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

South Carolina quarterback Stephan Garcia completed 16 of 28 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

The Gamecocks' freshman running back Marcus Lattimore was held relatively in check by Auburn's rush defense. He finished the game with 85 yards on 16 carries, but was held out of the end zone.

Auburn scored 21 points in the first quarter - the most points scored by any team in any quarter in a SEC championship game - scoring touchdowns on all three of its possessions.

"We felt great going into halftime," Newton said. "We have had so many times trying to come back in games. Now, we were tested to try and put a team away. The coaches stressed the fact that we need to finish."

Newton threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter, including a 54-yarder to Darvin Adams to reach 21 points. Adams also caught a 62-yard pass on the second play of the game and finished the first quarter with 140 receiving yards.

On the Tigers' second possession, Newton capped off a 12-play drive that started at their 26-yard line with a 5-yard touchdown run.

South Carolina scored on its first possession of the game, a 25-yard pass from Stephen Garcia to Patrick DiMarco.

After a 28-point first quarter, both teams went scoreless for most of the second quarter. The Tigers and Gamecocks exchanged turnovers (a Cam Newton fumble and a Stephen Garcia interception) and missed field goals.

The last 20 seconds of the half, however, saw 14 points get put on the board.

South Carolina scored on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to highly-touted receiver Alshon Jeffrey with 16 seconds left prior to Auburn's last-second score.

With the touchdown catch to end the half, Adams broke the record for receiving yards in a SEC title game, piling up 217 yards on seven receptions in the first half alone. He didn't have a catch in the second half.

After the game, Chizik said it was the most complete game his team has played in over a month - a result he saw coming from his players' focus before the game.

"If you looked in our guys' eyes before we left the hotel for this stadium," Chizik said, "there was no way that in 60 minutes, someone was going to take that from them."